Doing business in Singapore for clients from Indonesia
For Indonesian families and companies, Singapore is the neighbour across the Strait. Many use it to bank, to invest and to hold regional interests, and the industrial zones on the Indonesian side of the water link the two economies further.
Across the Strait
Indonesian wealth in Singapore, the industrial zones of Batam and Bintan and the flows of people and capital all cross a line drawn in 1824. A family may look at a single family office, given that more than 2,000 offices held tax incentives at the end of 2025. A company may want a treasury or a finance arm. Crypto-asset businesses should note that Indonesia moved supervision to its Financial Services Authority in January 2025.
Tax treaty and trade agreements
The present double taxation agreement was signed on 4 February 2020, entered into force on 23 July 2021 and has effect from 1 January 2022. Both countries belong to the ASEAN trade agreement (ATIGA, in force 2010), and RCEP has applied to Indonesia since January 2023.
Below you will find the articles written for clients from Indonesia as they are published, followed by the sections of the book Singapore as an International Financial Centre. Your own lawyers advise you on the law of Indonesia.
Articles for clients from Indonesia
Singapore · Gateway to Asia
Indonesia and Malaysia: The Near Neighbours
Singapore · Gateway to Asia
Indonesian wealth in Singapore
Singapore · Gateway to Asia
The Riau Islands and cross-border zones
Singapore · Gateway to Asia
Malaysia and the Johor–Singapore Special Economic Zone
Singapore · Gateway to Asia
Tax amnesties and repatriation
Singapore · Gateway to Asia
Neighbourhood as opportunity and risk
Singapore · Gateway to Asia
The near neighbours and the comparison with Geneva
Singapore · Gateway to Asia
Indonesia and Malaysia: The Near Neighbours: summary
Singapore as an International Financial Centre
Singapore · Book
Singapore as an International Financial Centre — preface
Singapore · Origins
A Place on the Strait: Temasek, Singapura and the Maritime Trade of the Malay World
Singapore · Origins
The Strait of Malacca as a corridor of trade
Singapore · Origins
Temasek and Singapura in the fourteenth century: archaeology and chronicle
Singapore · Origins
Malacca, Johor and the Riau archipelago
Singapore · Origins
Portuguese, Dutch and British rivalry in the Straits
Singapore · Origins
What the pre-colonial port teaches about location and trust
Singapore · Origins
A Place on the Strait: Temasek, Singapura and the Maritime Trade of the Malay World: summary
Singapore · Origins
Raffles, the East India Company and the Free Port of 1819
Singapore · Origins
The East India Company and the China trade
Singapore · Origins
Stamford Raffles and William Farquhar
Singapore · Origins
The agreements with Sultan Hussein and the Temenggong
Singapore · Origins
The free-port principle: open to every flag
Singapore · Origins
Early growth and the first merchant community
Singapore · Origins
What 1819 means for the financial centre
Singapore · Origins
Raffles, the East India Company and the Free Port of 1819: summary
Singapore · Origins
The Treaties of 1824 and the Legal Foundations of British Singapore
Singapore · Origins
The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824
Singapore · Origins
The Treaty of Friendship and Alliance of 1824
Singapore · Origins
The Straits Settlements and the Second Charter of Justice
Singapore · Origins
The reception of English law
Singapore · Origins
Land, title and the security of property
Singapore · Origins
Practical consequences for today’s practitioner
Singapore · Origins